Two Leeds Festival stages closed due to high winds

Two stages have been shut at Leeds Festival, as Storm Lilian batters the site with strong winds.

The arena at Bramham Park would not open as planned at 11:00 BST, organisers said, after previously advising campers to "stay in their tents" amid 60mph gusts.

Meanwhile, the BBC Radio 1 stage and the Aux stage would not host any performances on Friday, a spokesperson said.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Reading and Leeds Festival organisers said they could see an "end in sight" to the winds and would open "as soon as possible".

Confirming the two stage closures, they added: "We remain hopeful that everything else will continue as planned and that we will still have an amazing weekend.

"Please await further information."

In a previous update, they had urged festival-goers to "look out for each other" as safety was the "number one priority".

"We're urging you to stay in your tents if you are on-site and feel safe to do so. If you are in your car, please remain there," a festival spokesperson said.

It was unclear whether performances from acts such as Beabadoobee, Ashnikko or Artemas would be rescheduled.

Campers at Bramham Park were earlier warned by the Met Office to secure their tents, with a yellow wind warning in place until 11:00 BST.

Disruption to travel, dangerous conditions on roads and power cuts were possible, according to the Met Office.

Storm Lilian was expected to wane by the afternoon, as it reduced in intensity and was pushed off into the North Sea.

Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said the strongest winds were set to move across the country "really quite quick".

Warning Leeds Festival goers, Mr Dewhurst added: "The wind will pick up in that area through the night, particularly strongest towards dawn and then first thing in the morning, before then easing through the morning.

"So there could be potentially some impacts from those strong winds, of 50 to 60mph in the area so it's worth making sure your tents are secured."

He warned there could also be disruption to transport networks.

Network Rail said it was "closely monitoring" the potential impact the storm might have on the rail network.

"We have teams on hand to put in appropriate measures, if necessary, to ensure that we can continue to run trains safely and as reliably as possible," a spokesperson said.

Roads around Bramham Park, between Aberford and Thorner, are closed for the duration of Leeds Festival.

Around 90,000 people are expected at Bramham Park over the bank holiday weekend, as the festival marks its 25th year.

On Friday, Liam Gallagher, Catfish and the Bottlemen and 21 Savage are among the acts taking to the main stage.

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